Like Eugene Curtin, Richard Leith was an American physician attached to the British Expeditionary Force in World War I. He arrived in France in October 1917, well ahead of most American combat forces, and his early letters back home reflect the optimistic view that the war would be over by spring; he even tells his brother that he doesn’t think American troops would have to fight. Leith stayed in Europe for several months beyond the November 1918 Armistice, treating refugees and victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic.